There was a hole here
by MannieAnnie
Summary: My daddy always told me not to talk to strangers." Heather Mason returns home after a horrific encounter, only to become the unwitting pawn in a deadly game for not only her life, but the life of many others.
1. Apprehension

A/N: These are the new beginnings of a Silent Hill FanFic, i'm still ludicrously green after a -long- break from writing these things, I carried on writing other things though so I hope you enjoy it, R&R constructively, i'll happily listen to criticism so no matter how cruel it is, so long as it's valid! Note:

Konami® is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation Silent Hill™, characters, settings and Silent Hill are © Konami Corporation or their respective owners, I own none of the features of this story that are featured in any of the games featured in the Silent Hill series, I make no money from this fan fiction and simply wrote this for the fun and sake of writing a fan fiction after taking a long break, don't sue me bro!

*Hates disclaimers*

Enjoy,

Anna! ^-^

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**Apprehension**

_**Dad? It's me. Yeah. Sorry I didn't call sooner.**_

_**Yeah, I guess I was. Anyway I'm coming home now. Oh, I **_

_**didn't get that thing you asked me to. Okay. Okay, I will. I **_

_**love you too dad.**_

Peering out into rain, I felt grateful for the shelter of the cinema's generous banner.

The rain wasn't going to let up, i'd been standing there and shivering for the past half hour, if I wanted to get home I was going to have to get wet. Harry should've been there by now, or at least called my cell to write off another abstract excuse. Thing was, I just didn't buy the 'lost track of time' act anymore. At any rate, I wasn't getting any closer to home by complaining about what a wreck of a father I had. I didn't plan on spending the night shivering out here either, so there was only one way for it. I sighed and took my MP3 player from my bag. Plugged in and zoning out with the music, I darted out into the gloom.

I kept my head down, my eyes scanning the bleak furnishings of city life for anything not grey or dripping with rain. I had no luck. In fact, I began to notice the streets were entirely devoid of life. I had considered hailing a cab and getting a dry, if not expensive, ride home but there were no cabs. To that effect, no cars whatsoever were navigating the urban typhoon. I strained my ears, struggling to hear anything above the downpour, perhaps it was paranoia, or simply my over-exaggerative mind. I couldn't hear the commonplace sounds of the city, there were no sirens nor planes or helicopters, not even any beggars asking me for my bottom dollar. It sure was quiet for Richmond, i'd grown up with the screech of car horns and the wail of police sirens in the distance, but tonight, nothing. Had the city come to a standstill because of the rain? It certainly didn't feel natural to be the only life form lurking in the night.

Suddenly, a loud noise dragged me from my reverie, I blinked and faltered to a stop as the sidewalk below me turned dark. Through the rain I could see that the street light had blown out, along with a couple of my nerves. I sighed and waited patiently whilst my heart thudded itself out against my ribs, typical that it should happen to me. I let my gaze fall back to the floor, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand and continuing my journey. I sped up as the rain became heavier. The sound of rain on civilization became deafening, growing beyond the level of the music in my ears, drowning it out to replace it with the sound of rain. As I stepped into the next circle of light on the sidewalk, there was another noise from directly above me, I looked up and almost instantly regretted it. I covered my head with my arms and crouched down on an impulse as sparks rained from the heavens.._the heavens? I find comparing anything from this place to the _**heavens **_entirely ludicrous in my current situation._ I felt points of red-hot light fall past my cowering form, a number of sparks landing on my bare arms. Stinging pinpricks left behind made me wince. I warily untangled my arms from my head once sure I wasn't about to be fried on the spot and glared upwards regardless of the rain. Two lamps in a row? It seemed that someone in the clouds hated me, whoever was controlling this night certainly wasn't fond of me.

Now fully saturated, I decided to pass on the night's light show and hurry home, I was drenched to the bone, my hair heavy against the rest of my head as it stuck to my neck. My bag closer to my chest, I began walking again as my footsteps were punctuated by low shivers. I could see in the corner of my eye that the light turned on again as I left its presence. Great! Now I was being mocked by inanimate objects, it was just going to be one of those nights.

Deep in thought and numb to my surroundings, I frowned at the sidewalk as the track on my MP3 changed, it wasn't like my klutz of a Dad to make me trudge home on a night like tonight. Harry was lazy but certainly not neglectful. Predictions of what excuse he would come up with swirled in my head. Although it was likely to be entirely fabricated and unbelievable, I predicted my resolve would crumble as always beneath his childish grin. Smiling faintly to myself, eyes fixed on the ground, I neglected to stop as a figure ambled out of an alley and into my path. I collided with whoever it was mid-thought and, taken entirely by surprise, tangled my legs with theirs and flew a fair distance head over heels. I skidded across the sidewalk on my front as my bag flew from my hands and slid away across the sidewalk as I fell. Rising into a stoop and groaning, I wiped down my front fruitlessly and prepared for a barrage of insults from the unfortunate figure I collided with.

I finished brushing myself down and, standing upright, turned my attention to the person who stood motionless just as they were before I hit them. I took a self-conscious step forwards.

"Uhm hey, i'm sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going at all, I was really in a rush to get home, what with the weather and all, I really should've been looking where I was going," I was rambling. "So anyway if you'd accept my apologies I really have to go... sir... ma'am?"

At that point, the light that illuminated the clumsy scene blinked out of existence, plunging both me and my shadowy victim into darkness. Paying little attention to the sudden change of lighting, I took to examining the figure. The closest working street lamp lit the wrong side of the figure, the side that faced away from me, where I had come from. It appeared typical in shape, taller than my tiny frame and certainly bulkier. But it appeared distorted, disfigured or deformed in a manner that I couldn't quite put a name to. It did however seem.. strange. Whoever it was, I could understand if they were angry about my clumsiness, but their manners were beginning to irritate me. When I thought about it, they were most likely lost or something, perhaps I could make up for my embarrassing blunder by pointing them in the right direction. On that note, I stepped forwards and, my curiosity reaching tipping point, tapped the person on the shoulder. "Hey, are you o-". Suddenly, an ear-piercing screech filled my ears, I pulled my hands up to cover them and felt my earphones there, still buried deep inside my ears. I groaned and, as the world began to spin before me, fell onto my knees and pulled out my earphones in an attempt to cover my ears. I stared, shocked at my earphones as the sound suddenly faded somewhat. In an instant, the world was plunged into darkness, and silence, had the rain stopped? What had just happened, had all of the streetlights blown? Even then I could still hear the horrific screeching of white noise emanating from the buds in my hands through the darkness and. As I flipped over the earphones, the sound suddenly grew far louder as a low gurgling sound made itself heard. It came from in front of me, from the person.

I looked up in surprise, and saw the figure had begun to have some form of fit, its body twisting and writhing, staggering around to face me. I stared in shock, and horror, as the street lamp above began to flicker on and off erratically, illuminating the person. It didn't appear to be a person, not human, a creature. As it lumbered towards me, I could see it clearly. It had no arms, and its legs were disfigured. The legs appeared larger, as if making up for for lack of arms, but in turn making the creature unstable. Every inch of its rotting frame was twitching, its jerking movements leaving behind small puddles of a liquid, the sidewalk appearing to burn and fizz in its wake. I stared up in horror as the creature slowly worked its way precariously towards me, a stench of rotting meat growing as the white noise emanating from the earphones became louder. The creature then leaned back on its legs, shaking violently as its chest and throat bulged, a low gurgling sound building up in the depths of its throat. I willed my legs to move, horrified when they stubbornly seized up, rendering me paralyzed before the growing threat staggering slowly towards my cowering form. _Move move move! _My legs screamed with the exertion of performing such a simple action, my every sense and nerve shrieking at me, urging me to move. I moved one leg at a time, slowly pulling up my knees, straightening my feet and pushing downwards with all my might, swaying dangerously. I pulled myself to my feet and took a shaky step away from the figure. As I watched, the creature lurched forwards and retched, a jet of hissing substance flying from a deep gash in its chest aimed directly at me. I shrieked and took a step backwards, jerking every part of my body away from it at the same time. I stumbled and, in a blind stagger, swung my arm through the air. The hissing liquid collided with me. It clung to my arm, a searing pain bursting through it. I screamed as the liquid bit into my flesh as it ate away at my jacket. I quickly pulled off the hissing jacket and turned to snatch up my bag from where it lay untouched since I fell. Wiping tears from my eyes with a shaking hand, I fled blindly into the night, leaving my jacket corroding into nothing on the sidewalk.

I stared at my arm in horror, any longer and I would have lost use of it entirely. I shuddered and turned my attention to my MP3 player, the earphones had returned to normal, the murmur of my music quietly bubbling out into the night air.

_What just happened? _

_What was that thing? _

_Are there more out here? _

_Am I _safe.._?_


	2. Conversation

A/N: These chapters have more words in them than some people's entire fan fictions, please don't read it if you're looking for a quick read or anything like that, i'm writing this as a fan novel of sorts, note it's gonna take time to write so much, but I write every night so you're gonna have to wait and see how quickly I can bring them out ., I hope you enjoy it, note:

Konami® is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation Silent Hill™, characters, settings and Silent Hill are © Konami Corporation, I own none of the features of this story that are featured in any of the Silent Hill series, I make no money from this fan fiction and simply wrote this for the fun and sake of writing a fan fiction after taking a long break, don't sue me bro!

*Hates disclaimers*

Enjoy,

Anna! ^-^

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Conversation**

_**My Daddy always told me not to talk to strangers. **_

I stumbled blindly through the rain, my feet slapping loudly on the wet paving stones as I barreled through the night, my clothes entirely sodden by the torrential downpour. My hair was plastered to my face, falling around me as its normal brown color turned black under the rain's uncomfortable assault.

I flipped what had just happened over in my head, pulled it apart and tried to slot it back together again in a way that made sense, it was like trying to complete a jigsaw with a missing piece. My body eventually grinded to a halt, stubbornly refusing to move any further. I had already jogged further than I thought possible on my small legs, I sighed and began walking at a slow pace, too slow, every so often I would cast a nervous glance over my shoulder and around the street, seeing things in the shadows, monsters, only described in my father's own words, I prayed that I was imagining it. Resting my hands on my hips, I thought back to what had just happened, the acid, a lack of arms, the smell of rotting flesh, my father had written about such creatures in his diary, his bestiary as he called it, I had found it one day after he had left it on his bed, and opened it to discover scrawling and sketches depicting nightmarish creatures claiming to be from my father's own history. The same history that was shrouded in darkness, the same history that he refused to share with me and instead locked away in his drawer beside his bed. I decided that I would pilfer the book from his desk on returning home, the creatures couldn't be here though, could they? I still clearly remembered my father's reaction when I referred to one of the monsters described in gruesome detail in his book, I was young, and went by another name back then.

_I sit reclined against the foot of my couch, my favorite cart_oon_ lighting the dim room where I sit, vivid colors bouncing before my eyes as I stare, hypnotized by the show. "Heather.." _**No, it was... it was Cheryl, I remember finding it in my father's book. **_"Cheryl honey what're you drawing?" My father says, shifting the legs I lean against to bend forwards_ _and look at the drawings I have sitting proudly in my lap. "Ah.. why.. why did you draw this sweetie?" He mumbles, more to himself, as I look up questioningly into his anxious face. I frown in confusion and look down at the pictures in my lap, the television turning black as I take in the drawings of someone else, on the paper which I had just drawn on. Small children, wielding knives return my shocked gaze as I examine the blood, the rust and the darkness depicted so thoroughly in the hellish drawing. I look up as my eyes begin to fill with moisture, my Daddy staring wide-eyed in horror at the drawings in my lap._

_"I.. I didn't Daddy, those aren't mine, I didn't draw them Daddy, I didn't, I didn't!" I stammer, where are my drawings? The drawings of me and my daddy and mommy as a family, why is this drawing in their place, and why is daddy so scared? It isn't like him at all. The television bursts into life, a crackling noise flooding out from it and into our room as Daddy's head snaps up to stare wide-eyed at the television where my cartoons were seconds ago. I determine that it must be snow, the noise growing louder as I stare in wonder and confusion at the dancing screen. "Daddy..." I mumble, reaching behind me and tugging his trouser leg without looking away from the television. "Daddy, the TV is snowing." _

_"Hey Cheryl sweetie, how about we go into the other room for a second? You wanna sleep all warm with Daddy tonight?" I nod absently, fixated by the snowy patterns dancing across the screen. "Well let's go then, Daddy will read you a story, that sound good?" I nod again, unmoving as I sit still staring at the screen, the strange sound slowly growing in my ears as I lean towards the dancing patterns and reach out my hands. Daddy snatches me up abruptly, tearing my eyes away from the screen and covering my ears, the sound fading in an instant as the world turns black and I fall into.. sleep? I open my eyes and squint around my room, it's Daddy's room, I bounce slightly and let myself sink back into Daddy's bed, closing my eyes again. But where is Daddy? My eyes burst open again as I search frantically for my Daddy, only to find him sitting next to me on the edge of his bed, a small book in his hands as he talks quietly into the phone. "No, you gave me your word you would stay away until the time comes, leave us in peace for the little time you granted us." My Daddy sits in silence for a while, bending over his book before letting out an exasperated sigh. "She drew the children, Douglas, yes, i'm sure, no, the drawer has never been opened before by anyone except me, no you listen Cartland, my daughter,"- _**Me?**_- "has never seen inside that drawer. No, I could care less what you do for a living, I know my daughter and know she would never look without asking, no, she hasn't seen it, yes we both know." A long silence draws out as Daddy sits in silence, he sighs deeply and I hear his voice shake, thick with tears when he next speaks, "Alessa is surfacing again, Douglas". Alessa? What is Alessa? I reach out to pat my Daddy, hug him and let him know i'm still here, protect him from whatever the Alessa is as he stands up from the bed, drops the phone onto his cupboard and walks out of the room ruffling his hair with his hand. Daddy was talking about me, _but what's Alessa_ I wonder as I let my hands drop. Am I an Alessa? Is Daddy an Alessa? Who was he talking to? I blink sleepily at the roof and roll onto my side to see Daddy's book lying closed in front of my nose. My curiosity growing, I open up the book and stare blankly at the alien words scrawled onto the yellowing pages. I flick through the pages of the book and take in strange pen drawings of people and a big lizard and.. knife-wielding children. _

If this truly was the same thing as what was described in my father's book, why was it here? On the second occasion I made a grab for my father's diary, I read of a sleepy town, called.. Sleepy Hollow.. Quiet Hollow.. Silent.. Silent Hill. I blinked as something opened in my mind, I remembered mist, mist and ash, for a brief second before the memory faded away to the depths of my mind, hiding from my prying memory. I shook my head and picked up my original train of thought. Why were the monsters here? They belonged in my father's world, in his... my.. _our_ nightmares, not in the real world outside of our vague memories, outside of the book that held these monsters' descriptions so vividly.

Why were the streets still empty?

Even at this time of night in this weather, the roads should be full, at least I would have seen a car by now, and the weather patterns, the rain had stopped as suddenly as the creature had made itself known, yet now it was returning to its steady barrage from the heavens.. ironic when I think back. As a lightning bolt cracked across the sky, dissecting the black sky across the middle, seemingly affirming the fact that yes, it was raining, a thought occured to me. I took out my earphones form my pocket and stared curiously at them, studying them closely to spy out anything out of the ordinary, I found nothing. But the way they had acted before.. was that similar to what my father had described? He had written that his radio reacted strangely when any of these creatures grew near, emmitting static not so different in nature to that of EVP, or the space between established radio stations. Is that what these creatures were? Dark spaces between the civilised areas of life? I shook my head and rounded a corner, finding myself warily peeking around it before reluctantly dragging the rest of my body around afterwards.

I was only a few blocks away from home now, maybe I should confront my father about what had happened, about his diary. I could simply act inquisitive to the point where he took my subtle probings for something serious. I looked, stupidly, left and right before crossing the road, only realising after I made my crossing that looking was both fruitless and moronic, the streets were still empty, no sound could be heard over the rain except my lone footsteps, what was happening, why were the streets empty, and why was the world of my nightmares, the world of that town, seeping through the cracks between worlds and joining with my own. So many questions whirled around inside my head, I finally settled on a summary, the single selfish question: _Why me_?

I cautiously rounded the corner to my home, glancing in each direction in turn before allowing my gaze to fall on the apartment placed before me. A rusting stairwell led the way up to our front door, the top floor of the house, at least it had a view. I saw a flickering light bouncing across the ceiling of my home from my vantage point in the street, the color changed and I heard the faint din of canned laughter, so my old man was watching television. I laughed then, despite myself, it felt good to let off a little steam, make a noise to prove to myself I was still there, still substantial. I stopped at the curb and, leaving habit unbroken, checked the road before darting swiftly across, I examined the front wall of the house, the vines gaining ground as they crawled, away from the earth towards our window, I thought they complimented the house, my father couldn't wait to call someone in to cut them down, the folks who owned the place wouldn't let him but I was sure he would find a ladder and a knife or something and do the job himself. As I drew closer to the house, I saw someone standing beneath the canopy outside the ground floor apartment, the landlord's home. Was that him? His wife? Whoever it was stood with a certain cast, standing totally motionless against the shadows, stooping over slightly as if yearning to be in the rain. As I passed, I smiled uncertainly in the direction of the figure, lifting my foot to climb the stairs as a rasping, cracked voice spoke out from the shadows, "You're late, Heather".

I froze, the world turned silent, did the rain stop again? Surprised, I dropped my foot with more force than I intended, my foot falling down against the rusted step, sending out a resonating clang throughout the silent air. I wiped the moisture from my eyelids and blinked rapidly, spinning around to face the wall and taking a quick sidestep into view of the shadows. Heather.. noone called me by that name anymore, that is, no-one here knew me before I moved to Richmond. I squinted into the shadows, conscious of the water dripping off me and rapidly collecting on the concrete at my feet. The figure stood motionless as before, stooped over as if from a hunched back, or the strains of old age. I swallowed and cleared my throat as quietly as possible, if my name wasn't Heather I wouldn't be acting nervous at all, Harry had taught me the secrets of reading, and expressing, messages through body language, I straightened and pulled together what I hoped was a confused expression. "I-i'm sorry, I think you mistake me for someone else, my name's Anna? I live in the apartment just up there," I pivoted slightly and pointed back towards the door I so longed to rush to. "On the top floor." I turned back and uttered an almost inaudible squeak as the person's face jutted out from the shadows into mine. I took a wary step backwards and had no need to change my facial expression to startled, shakily taking in her wrinkled features, her wide glaring eyes boring into mine, the whites shining through the darkness. "You startled me," I breathed. "I'm sorry, was it a Heather you were looking for? Are you sure you're at the right place?" I said, motioning to my waiting home. The face contorted into what appeared to be a grim smile, almost apologetic I added with dismay. "I'd be happy to help you if you're lost, point you in the right direction?" Perhaps my code for "Get the hell out of my face you old hag" was just a little too obvious, she lifted her chin defiantly and looked at me across the bridge of her wrinkled nose.

 "The space between our worlds has closed, and you are here to ensure it stays that way, _Heather- Cheryl.. Mason_, and I am here to ensure you carry out your duty" She rasped, seemingly gauging my reaction, it must have appeared relatively lost. "Don't you understand, child? Your bonds in this world are gone, you have no reason to stay in this desolate wasteland you call a home, there is nothing here for you anymore" Her face contorted into a hard mask of grief, and anger, had I offended her? What was she talking about my duty? I had no duty, my life was devoted to hiding, and living. "You must fill your heart with hatred," She spat, appearing to be angering herself with her own words. "Fill your heart with hatred Heather, and you will become the one who will lead us to Paradise with blood stained hands." I feigned, no, expressed horror, what did I have to do with any of this? Was I a catalyst of some sort? I thought back but could see nothing that I could have done to trigger the appearance of the monster, and of this unnerving woman, my life was just too commonplace of late, I had been beginning to find it annoying, but I would do anything to trade this life back for what I had then.  "I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong person, my name is Anna, Anna Wolfe, I don't know what world you speak of, or which nerd convention you escaped from, but please return to it because I have neither the time or the patience tonight," I spat, turning to the stairwell as I became more irritated with each word I spoke. "My father is waiting for me, I hope you find whoever it is you're looking for".

 "Is he, Heather? Is Harry really waiting for you? What makes you so sure child, you cannot run from your fate, you are a pawn in this game, and you will play it out to the end, no matter how far you run". I let out a low growl, what did she mean by that, of course he was waiting for me, most likely regretting even now that he neglected to give me a ride home, what did she know? She was just some old hag, a well-informed hag but just a hag all the same. This in mind, I span to face the woman, about to share my thoughts, when she interrupted the oncoming barrage with what I least expected, taking me by surprise. "My name is Claudia, Claudia Wolf, we share a same name and so much more, but you will come to learn that with time, remember my name well, for you shall need it when the time is upon us."

With a dread looming in the air between us, she turned and sunk back into the shadows, her form seeming to disperse and become one with the shadow, I shivered and turned to the stairs. Finally I could get inside, get dry and, I decided, demand some answers from my father. I took a step and looked up, startled as a drop of something cold dropped onto my shoulder. It was raining again? But how? The rain had just stopped. I gave up on finding a logical explanation and turned my attention to the stairwell, slowly trudging against the rain towards my door. Only when I was a few steps from the summit of my climb did I see an ugly knife protruding from the wooden door to my home. I froze on the step, my leg tensed to pull me up onto the next step as I took in a thin scarlet streak along the sharp side of the cruel implement, the sound of rainfall suddenly appeared louder, weightened, as each tiny impact felt like a frozen fist colliding with me, the indistinguishable patter of each individual drop of rain drumming and reverberating against each surface they hit. The knife had been used, recently and most likely in the vicinity, was my father okay?

 The hag's words returned to play back inside my head, _Is Harry really waiting for you?_, I swallowed deeply and forced myself to take one step after another, reaching the landing after what felt like an eternity. I wrapped my hand uncertainly around the blade's handle and eased the knife silently from the door. I quickly inspected the knife, the handle was bound in a smooth black leather of some form, the blade was sharp and there was no mistaking the thin line of blood that occupied that particular sharp side of it. I swallowed again and forced myself to turn the blade over, being careful not to injure myself in the process, and was rewarded by seeing a foreign language, japanese? Runes of some form, characters, carved into the side of the blade itself, it appeared to be some form of ritual knife or at least an ornamental blade, the care and precision put into the knife were certainly not something to be found in a kitchen. Satisfied with my examination, I returned my thoughts to the door and made an attempt to calm myself down. Dad is fine, why should I be listening to some senile old hag most likely living in the streets on our doorstep, what do I care what she says and how would she know how the hell Harry was at the time.

 I raised the knife warily, most likely only to still my shaking nerves, and curled the fingers of my spare hand around the door handle, pulling it down and outwards to find the door locked from the inside as I heard the chain rattle from inside the room. Well that settled it, the door was locked, no-one can possibly climb a sheer wall to the window, besides they were probably locked.. I sidestepped and leant out across the railing to check, they were locked, the latches on the inside of the windows proving to be closed, no-one could have gotten into the house unless they hired Santa to do their dirty work or something. I shifted my weight back onto the landing and onto one foot, stooping to lift up the doormat and find the thin piece of plastic I left there when I went out. It was a precaution in case Harry was asleep or too drunk to answer the door. Picking up the plastic, I carefully slid it through the gap between the door and its frame, sliding it down slowly until I met the resistance of the chain holding the door shut, I pulled back the plastic and, noting the position of the chain, rammed the thin sheet head-on into it, hearing the slide of the chain as it slackened considerably. I repeated the movement again, this time being confronted with a strong resistance, the chain was almost out. I tilted the card to one side and pushed again, this time rewarded by the chain dropping from its catch and falling against the wall. I lifted up the mat again and dropped the card below it, re-centering the mat to aline with the dry spot on the floor. I stood back up and returned my attention to the looming door and, taking a deep breath, pulled the door open and stepped inside...


	3. Devastation

A/N: And onto the third part! I'm hoping for some reviews soon... pweashe? . Note:

Konami® is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation Silent Hill™, characters, settings and Silent Hill are © Konami Corporation, I own none of the features of this story that are featured in any of the Silent Hill series, I make no money from this fan fiction and simply wrote this for the fun and sake of writing a fan fiction after taking a long break, don't sue me bro!

*Hates disclaimers*

Enjoy,

Anna! ^-^

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Devastation**

_**Do not join the others, they are deceivers, they are damned. **_

I eased open the door and squinted warily inside, the room was pitch black, devoid of light except for the dancing lights of the TV in the other room spilling out into the hall. I eased the door closed as quietly as possible, I didn't want to wake Harry if he was already asleep, I couldn't see the watch on my wrist but I knew it was late. Placing my bag on the table by the door and reaching to take off my jacket, I instead felt the bloodstained knife in my hand. I remembered the creature in the street and my jacket lying useless on the sidewalk. I hoped for Harry's sake that he was asleep, but I hoped for _my _sake that he wasn't, I had so many questions that needed answering and it seemed he was the one to ask, if not him then his book. I flipped the cruel implement over in my hand before carefully placing it in my bag and drawing the zip at the neck. I wondered how Harry would react if he'd seen me arrive home with a bloody knife in my hand, war-weary and anxious. Knowing my father however, he was probably out colder than an iceberg, I slumped against the hall wall and rubbed my eyes wearily. _What a night. _

I stood there for a while, passing my fingers through my hair and allowing the rain gathered by it to fall silently to the ground, my legs aching and my nerves shaking, closing my eyes and letting my head slump limply backwards into the wall. Aware of the time and my waiting bed, I forced my eyes open and pushed off the wall, threatening to fall lazily forwards before catching myself and steadying my feet, turning to the front room's door and dragging myself towards it. I leaned around the door as quietly as possible, taking in the static dancing across the screen of the television and taking in my father's form slouched lazily across the couch, a low rumbling snore making itself heard above the static emanating from the television. I smiled to myself and retreated back to the hallway, making sure to avoid the creaking floorboards I had grown to memorize in the time i'd spent in this home. I stood in the hallway at a loss for what to do, maybe I should just get changed and drop into bed, if I had the energy to even get changed. I felt like a shower though, the cold rain had sunken into my bones, making me ache and feel uncomfortable even as I dried in the hallway radiator's generous warmth. As I stood contemplating how best to make myself at home, my stomach announced its own discomfort in the form of a lengthy low rumble, suddenly I was starving.

I turned on the light and blinked around the dingy kitchen, dazzled by the simple lamp on the roof, the dark had firmly planted itself before my eyes, leaving dizzying blotches swimming before my eyes as the light chased it away. I busied myself with inspecting our meagre stock of food in the cupboards and, pulling down some bread and peanut butter from two separate cupboards and a blunt knife from a drawer at my waist, the bloodied ritual knife hidden in my bag flashing through my mind. I yawned extensively and closed my eyes for a second, stretching onto my tiptoes before relaxing and opening my eyes again, inspecting the state of disrepair our cramped home was in whilst absently spreading the peanut butter on my bread. Jackets and shoes lay strewn across the furniture, the blind in the corner of the room clinging to the roof at an angle, the sink overflowing with dishes and food containers spilling from the trash, the cupboards empty in their place. I sighed and pressed my spare hand to my forehead, the room swaying slightly before my eyes as my arms suddenly felt heavy, the effort of spreading the butter becoming tiring. _Am I really that tired_?_ It's not quite that time of the night when I begin to pass out just yet._ Iglanced up blearily at the clock on the wall, it was stuck at six o'clock and the second hand was stuttering and jumping in place, another part of this house that didn't function properly.

As I continued my tough examination of my home, a crackling sound similar to static began to creep across my senses, growing in volume as my head began to throb, the room tipping violently before me as I fell forwards with it and hit my head on something. I sent my late night snack flying across the room as I reached for something solid to hold onto. I caught hold of the cupboard handle and raised my hand holding the knife up to my forehead, attempting to steady myself as I took in the bloody, rusted blade in my grasp, blood dripping steadily off the blade's point. I gasped and threw the knife down as if it had just bitten me, it was a grubby stainless steel when I took it from the drawer, why was this horrific weapon in its place? I took a step backwards, planting my feet on the ground and steadying myself before turning towards the hallway door and stumbling dizzily across the kitchen for it. As my vision turned blurred, my head throbbed painfully, a long, steady blare of a siren bursting into my ears, my legs giving way as I fell to my knees and threw my hands across my ears. _What's happening? What's with this _**noise**! I climbed back to my feet and staggered out into the hallway, using the wall to stop myself as I span around to slump backwards against the wall. I began breathing deeply and stared at the floor, blinking profusely and clinging to the wall in an attempt to steady myself. A thought occurred to me as I cast my eyes about looking for the source of the noise so I leant dizzily across the wall, snatching up the bag and grabbing the black bound handle that protruded from the opening. I held onto the handle and dropped the bag, shaking the handle wildly in a stupor until the bag eventually slipped from the blade and fell to the ground, the sound of its collision with the floor being drowned out by the cacophony of noise rioting about inside my head. All of my senses were screaming in protest, my head throbbing in pain as my ears were blasted apart by the blaring siren, the taste of iron filling my mouth and the smell of metal invading my nostrils. Holding the knife unsteadily at arm's length as I urged myself forward, I fell headlong through the front room's door, staggering into the room and falling onto my front as the world was plunged into darkness and silence.

_"Daddy, the TV is snowing." _

_I flick through the pages of the book..._

_"Dad?"_

_"Hello?"_

_"It's me."_

_"Anna?"_

_"Yeah. Sorry I didn't call sooner"._

_"That's okay, you needed a break from being inside, you hadn't been out in weeks so you must've been itching to get out and for the longer the better."_

_"Yeah, I guess I was. Anyway I'm coming home now."_

_"Alright, i'll see you soon honey."_

_"Oh, I didn't get that thing you asked me to."_

_"The book on The Flauros? That's okay don't sweat it, I can recall enough to cope for now, just get yourself home, i'll be there in a few minutes, I have a phone call to make first though so wait up a little while okay?"_

_"Okay. Okay I will."_

_"Don't get cold waiting honey, i'll be there soon, I love you... Cheryl."_

_"I love you too Dad."_

I opened my eyes and sat up with a start, inhaling deeply and looking around me in a panic. I breathed out and waited as my eyes adjusted to the dark, waving my hand in front of my face until I was satisfied with my vision. I then tilted my head and saw something lying on the floor at the foot of the couch, I reached out and made a grab at it. Feeling a sharp pain on the palm of my hand, I yelped and snatched my hand back, clutching my palm briefly before carefully feeling for what had hurt me. I nudged the object with the side of my hand and warily picked it up, running the fingers of my injured hand around it. I felt something rough.. strips of something rough wound around something solid, a disc or plate of some form and then something cold and metallic, smooth to the touch and sloping to a point. I pressed my finger to the end and was rewarded with a sharp jolt of pain, making me wince and in turn making my head throb. I tried to fit together the results of my blind examination and frowned, my head was swimming and I could see only the vague memory of hiding this object somewhere, an image of blood, then a similar object, covered in rust, and lit up, clearer than the first memory. My head throbbed painfully, I leant forwards into the darkness and retched, wiping my mouth as my stomach heaved, trying to expel air from my stomach, I hardly touched my food at the diner._ The diner! _I lay back and stared into the darkness, patterns dancing before my eyes as I cast my mind back to the day, or was it the night? Rain, walking home in the rain and meeting someone.. a creature, I remember it spitting at me, I avoided that.. throwing off my jacket and running, arriving home and meeting.. an old woman hovering at my neighbors' doorstep. D... Dana, was that her name? No.. Dahlia. She spoke of darkness.. my duty, what duty? I couldn't remember, did she even say? I pictured my crude gaining of entry to my home, putting down my bag and hiding the object in my bag.. making food.. and feeling pain. That pain.. did I cut myself? No.. it was inside my head, a..a migraine, I remember staggering into this room and collapsing.. the noise.. the siren! That disembodied sound blaring painfully into my head and forcing me to my feet, the knife.. it was a knife! I dubiously weighed the knife in my hand at my disturbing revelation. The other knife had turned rusty, and bloody, I had forced myself through the darkness to this room and fallen.

I groaned and sat up, closing my eyes and wincing from the lingering pain, my mind had unclouded but some pain still remained. I blinked again, noticing there was no comparable difference between the darkness of the room and the darkness of my eyelids as I forced myself shakily to my feet. Waiting for a moment as my head readjusted to the height of standing, I exhaled deeply and racked my brain for something I was missing. I had a feeling there was something I had forgotten about in all the confusion, why else would I choose this room in particular to charge into? I remembered worrying about something, checking inside this room on returning home to reassure myself that I needn't worry.. _Dad!_ I snapped around and held out my arms, feeling for the couch in the general direction I remembered it being. I felt something soft under my hands, the couch, I lifted my hands and felt something harder resting against the couch, I guessed it was my dad's leg, or his arm. I dropped my hands again and felt my way along the couch to the head of it, reaching out my hands and feeling a head propped up against the armrest of the couch. Typical, it was just like Harry to sleep through something like that, did he even hear it? I smiled to myself and, despite myself, let out a low laugh, I didn't know _where _he got his laziness. Still smiling, I reached out my other hand and gently shook him."Hey, Dad, wake up." I said quietly, a rude awakening is one of the things he hated in life. "Hey c'mon you bum, get up!" I began to shake him harder, the same ritual I went through every morning. "Let's go Dad, are you prete-" I was interrupted mid-sentence as the television blinked into life, scrolling static filling the screen and lighting the room, spilling out faint static into the room.. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the new light and froze. my heart leaping into my throat as I took in what I could see in the flickering light. My father lay on the couch, his mouth hung open and his eyes were staring, unseeing, at the corner of the room. There was fresh blood glistening in the light as it clung above his top lip, trailing off into his mouth.

I stared wide-eyed at my father's limp body sprawled on the couch and blinked, disbelieving. "Hey, Harry, wake up." I urged, my voice thick with tears threatening to make their appearance very shortly. "Harry! Dad!_ Daddy_! Wake up stop messing around!" I stammered, my whole body shuddering as I fought to hold in tears. I tilted my head back to clear my head, in the vain hope I would wake up and it wouldn't be real, it wasn't real, I didn't believe it, he wasn't gone, he'd never leave me. Something was smeared on the wall above the couch, I squinted blearily through my tears and made out the words "_Too late_" written on the walls. I shook my head and took my daddy's huge hand in my two tiny hands and squeezed it. I leant over his empty body strewn in front of me and closed my eyes, gritting my teeth as tears began to flow from my eyes, my breath coming out in quick ragged sobs as I rested my head on his chest, letting myself cry freely as the last of my resolve crumbled. My heart felt as if it would break, pulling apart any second as I felt a physical pain rip through my chest, clear blood from the deep wound pouring out through my eyes and onto my father's chest. He was gone.. he was alive when I came home, and now he was gone, I could've _helped_ him, _saved_ him or at least joined him in his fate, anything instead of being left alone, left here on this deteriorating planet alone.

_Alone._

_"I love you too Dad."_


	4. Trepidation

A/N: Thanks to all you guys who reviewed, i'll keep 'em coming if you do, i'm scaring myself writing this damn thing for you guys! Note:

Konami® is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation Silent Hill™, characters, settings and Silent Hill are © Konami Corporation or their respective owners, I own none of the features of this story that are featured in any of the games featured in the Silent Hill series, I make no money from this fan fiction and simply wrote this for the fun and sake of writing a fan fiction after taking a long break, don't sue me bro!

*Hates disclaimers*

Enjoy,

Anna! ^-^

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**Trepidation**

**So, what will you do? I'll be waiting, where all begins. In the town of Silent Hill. **

I opened my eyes and rubbed them roughly, leaving them aching after rubbing them so thoroughly many times before. Looking around the room, I couldn't see any notable difference than when I had my eyes open. Forcing myself into a sitting position, I groaned audibly and rubbed the length of my back, cracking my neck and forcing myself shakily to my feet. How long had I been out? A long shudder wracked my body as I let out a long sigh and looked through the darkness to where my father lay covered up on the couch. I chewed down on my lip as I thought back to waking up to my father's dead body, and the bloodied knife, someone had used the knife which I so readily supplied to kill my father whilst I lay just inches away out cold. I felt my eyes beginning to water painfully as I threw my hand up to wipe away unshed tears from my red raw eyes. I cried myself to sleep on multiple occasions, only now, on what I thought was the next day, did I open my eyes with the determination and willpower to face another day. I stumbled sleepily over to where my father lay, falling down onto my knees and waiting for my eyes to adjust as I rested my hand carefully across his dim forehead. Shaking my head and now chewing so hard on my lip that I had now begun to draw blood, I gritted my teeth and refused to cry, I wouldn't.

What should I do.. I had noone to call to inform of Harry's death, what should I do in way of a funeral? I sighed and rubbed my head, my ears were still ringing dully from the earlier commotion, and my eyes seemed to be unfocused and fuzzy, but that may just have been the dark. I scrunched my eyes closed and opened them wide again, trying to chase away the ache that presented itself everytime I moved my eyes. As I opened my eyes again, I caught something standing out in the corner of my eye and, tilting my head, saw a silhouette of a person, a human shape, a far darker shade of black than the dull darkness surrounding me. I squinted and shrugged as the shape disappeared, my eyes were playing tricks on me again, the tiny coloured dots darting around before my eyes forming into what I dreaded to see. I exhaled deeply, surprised at how tightly wound I was, so much so that a trick of the eye had sent me into a panic. As I turned my head back to my father, I heard footsteps, loud and booted, emanating from the kitchen. There was someone in the house? I listened anxiously as my heart throbbed, almost audibly, in my chest, the silence was deafening as it hung heavy in the air. As I listened, the footsteps grew louder accompanied with my heart, appearing to come closer to the hallway as I looked down at my legs, silently willing them to let me move silently. I stood slowly and shakily, the footsteps booming in my ears as I turned and, to my horror, nudged something across the floor with the heel of my foot. Whatever it was, it made enough noise as it slid audibly across the room and hit something else on the opposite side, a metallic clang sounding out throughout the entire apartment. I froze in place, the footsteps had also stopped in their tracks, I was sure whoever it was had heard the sound too. I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth and waiting for something, anything, to break the silence that so heavily coated the room.

As I listened, the footsteps started up again, gradually growing in speed until I heard them burst out into the hallway, becoming deafening as they tore the silence to shreds, throwing it to the ground around me as I forgot all attempts at discretion. I cried out and threw myself behind the head of the couch where my father lay, curling myself up and forcing myself between the bookcase and the back of the sofa, holding my breath and scrunching my eyes tightly shut. As I listened, the footsteps grew louder and louder to the point I thought they would tread directly over me. Suddenly, the booming footsteps stopped, the silence falling as a sheet back over the room and hanging heavy in the air. I lost track of how long I spent hunched up there between the wall and that couch, listening intently for any hint of a sound. After some time, the silence was interrupted by three resounding knocks, reverberating off the walls and becoming imprinted on my head long after they had finished. I gasped quietly and clamped my hand over my mouth, hunching myself up further until my back flared into pain. As I strained my ears through the darkness, I heard a faint rattling sound emanating from the corner of the room, I deduced it was from the door, the door handle? _They were trying to get in! _My head began to whirl, my hands shaking and sweating as the rattling stopped, only to be replaced by the long, steady creak of the door's hinges, as it opened. I held my breath as a faint draft breezed into the room, swirling around the room as it threatened to make me shiver, I tensed further in response and almost cried out due to the pain burning across my spine. Listening hard, I heard the footsteps, now so close to my hiding place, begin to sound inside the room, moving closer to the couch as I slowly inhaled in a long, silent breath, and then held it.

The footsteps drew to the front of the couch, stopping dead in their tracks as a low, faint yet pained groan drifted across the small space to my ears. I didn't dare to move, didn't dare to breathe, my lungs began to scream for air as I clamped my hand down hard over my mouth, there was no way I was going to give myself up to who..what..ever it was. Just as my lungs reached breaking point, the sofa moved, pushing me back hard and causing my head to collide painfully with the hard wall behind me and forcing the stale air from my lungs, rendering me dazed as colours swam before my eyes. My vision turned fuzzy as my head flared with pain, the couch feeling lighter as I heard a loud thud, followed by a grunt and a slow, steady sliding sound slowly growing distant as the world turned black. The sound of a creaking door looped in my head as I groaned and fell sideways, off the face of the earth.

_I don't know what kind of hell is waiting for me there, but I've got no other choice. I don't care about God or Paradise... If that's what she believes in then fine. But she won't get away with what she did. When I find her, I'll kill her myself. _

I opened my eyes and groaned, making to stand up but crying out weakly as I met a strong resistance, something was holding me down. Shaking my head clear, I felt an intense disorientation as my senses sharpened in a rush, my legs suddenly screaming out in pain as I looked down to see the couch had found its way up beyond my knees, my nose inches away from the old stained fabric. I cried out again, louder this time, as I shifted and wriggled my legs, worming my way out from under the furniture whilst pushing at all times in the opposite direction. Having freed myself, I stood uncertainly, slowly applying pressure to each leg and wincing as my tests were answered with jolts of pain lashing out across my legs. I staggered out from behind the couch and limped uncertainly around to its front, throwing myself down onto the welcoming cushions and allowing them to slowly consume me in their inviting comfort. I rubbed my temples wearily and squinted in concentration, something felt wrong, I felt as if I shouldn't be sitting on this couch. _Oh! _I threw myself up from the couch and span around frantically, I wasn't sat on Harry.. was he gone!? I leant forwards and gingerly touched the couch, greeted only by the touch of the neglected and deteriorating fabric. I pulled myself back to my full height and threw my leg out behind me to steady myself as my body threatened to topple, my father was gone? _He was already gone Anna, you idiot. _But his body was here, he needed to be buried, at least be given a proper burial, could he not be granted even that in death?

I bit down hard on my lip. _I am __**not**__ going to cry. _I limped over to the door in a fatigued stupor, I needed sleep, rest, anything. More than anything, I needed to wake up. I eased open the door and looked cautiously to either side of the hallway, both were empty. I leaned against the doorframe for support and squinted blearily down the hallway, what was that on the door? Nudging myself up from the doorway with my shoulder, I placed my hand on the wall and forced myself to the door, stopping mid-step and swaying, staring in disbelief at the door before me. It was entirely wrapped in chains, almost every inch covered by the rusted links, punctuated in places with the white wood of the door itself reaching out from between them. I shook my head and followed one of the chains along its path, it was held firmly to the wall by a ring, which was in turn driven and bolted directly into the wall. I pushed myself up weakly and felt wrapped my fingers loosely around a chain, where it was closest to its base. I pulled with all my meagre strength, exhausting myself quickly and gaining nothing but grazes on the palm of my hand, coated in the coarse rust that now fell to the floor in a thin cloud. Taking a step backwards, I thought I heard a faint clanging from outside, gradually coming closer, someone was climbing the stairs to the door! In a second, my resolve crumbled as I threw myself forwards to the door and banged with all but some of my remaining strength. "**Hey, can you hear me!? Let me out, someone locked me in here!**" I cried, stopping my assault on the door as the footsteps reached the landing, stopping directly outside the door.

Silence.

"**Are you out there? ****Come on help me**!"

Just as I shrieked the last word, a deafening boom exploded through the air, shattering my composure in a moment as I fell and staggered backwards, reaching the end of my hallway and falling back against the door leading to my bathroom. Another stupendously loud explosion in the night, the chains flying outwards and away from the door before falling tensely back onto the it, clinking as they crashed together and fell silent. Silence again. I reached blindly behind me and pulled open the bathroom door as another blast of sound, followed by another and another sounded out and crashed through my head, causing the world to tip before me. I slammed the door closed with the entire weight of my body once through and bolted it, regardless of how little protection I predicted it would give me. Another explosion had me backing away from the door into the bathroom and glancing around nervously. Something in the mirror caught my eye, and I whirled around on my heels to see something written in red on the tiled walls. **"**_**There is a hole here, it'll be gone soon."**_ I glanced beneath the writing and caught my breath as another explosion of sound surged from the hallway, preceded the clink of chains in its wake. There was an ugly hole driven into the wall of the bathroom surrounded by strange arcane-looking runes painted around its sides in the same red as the message above it. I reached behind me and absently pulled the light toggle, squinting slightly as the light flickered and buzzed faintly into life. I stooped towards the hole and curiously peered into it. There was no end in sight, the hole was entirely black beyond where the weak bathroom light reached, but that made no sense, there was only a thin plaster wall and then the kitchen. As I tried to work out the implications of this black hole, an ear-splitting crack forced itself into my ears, followed by a loud, shrieking screech accompanied by rushed but impeded footsteps increasing in volume rapidly. I stared at the hole, and glanced at the door, the footsteps were almost on me. Undecided but rushed, I decided to take my chances and climbed awkwardly into the hole, crawling as fast as my remaining strength would allow, another explosion of sound flying through the tunnel from behind me. I heard quick footsteps and a deafening clang of metal as I saw the dim light below me fade out of existence, forcing me to look back over my shoulder in curiosity. Someone, something, was standing there, wearing some form of rusted helmet obscuring its head, the handle of the screeching implement gripped firmly between its fingers. I turned my attention back to the tunnel, the sound of a low, distorted breathing accompanying me from the entrance of the tunnel, it was watching me.

Eager to be away from my demonic hunter, I quickened my pace, hurrying towards the darkness, hurrying towards my fate.


	5. Hallucination

A/N: Yay, a new review! Thanks [Name Who I Forget], I wasn't mad keen on Heather either, but she's female so it figures for me to use her. Note:

Konami® is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation Silent Hill™, characters, settings and Silent Hill are © Konami Corporation or their respective owners, I own none of the features of this story that are featured in any of the games featured in the Silent Hill series, I make no money from this fan fiction and simply wrote this for the fun and sake of writing a fan fiction after taking a long break, don't sue me bro!

*Hates disclaimers*

Enjoy,

Anna-Marie! ^-^

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**Hallucination**

**Only the dark one opens and closes the door to Silent Hill.**

I was falling, still falling. Always falling, death had become an inevitability by that point.

Having reached the concealed end of the tunnel, I had found myself crawling over air, and subsequently flailing about in every direction for something to stop my steady plummet. What scared me was the feeling. It didn't feel like falling, in fact it felt like floating in space, but the walls were moving, and the floor was gone. A painfully long silence drew out before I burst painfully out into a hazy light, and into something soft.

Lying on my front, a pungent smell invaded my senses. The very stench itself made my eyes water, made my whole body convulse into a cringe. Hastily pulling myself to my feet, I heard the crackle of plastic crunch underfoot. I had landed on a pile of black bags, my legs slowly beginning to disappear into the contents of one such bag lying open at my feet. My fall had ended abruptly in a garbage heap, was I falling through a waste disposal chute of some sort? A quick scan of the wall showed only a solid brick wall spreading before me. Bewildered, I looked both left and right as far as my vision would allow and saw only a thick fog heavily coating the street. The light also caught my attention, hadn't it been night only minutes ago? I turned my attention back to the wall, using it to steady myself as my feet slowly rose from the sticky waste. Once free from the dump, I searched for a safe route to solid ground. Sidestepping onto a sealed bag and shaking my feet wildly, I took to studying the wall again, and was greeted this time by yet another red message painted onto the bricks:

**"**_**There was a hole here, it's gone now."**_

I stared at that message, read it over and over, and tried to comprehend what it meant. Tunnels don't just disappear, though when I thought about it they don't just appear in your bathroom wall either. I sighed, completely overwhelmed by the impossibility of my situation. My situation. Where was this place? I spun around, tangling my feet in the bags and falling forwards. My arms flew out and barely stopped my fall on a pole placed generously before me. I hauled myself back to my feet and unwrapped my hands from the post. A small box was attached to it. A bus schedule, the old paper was torn in many places, but on inspecting the heading it seemed I was in a place called Old Silent Hill. I gasped and cast my mind back, the name stood out like a christmas tree in a blackout.

_I flick through the pages of Daddy's book, drawings of misty streets and dark, dripping back alleys. Drawings of monsters and people, a police uniform, a man sitting in a chair. I hear a loud bang sound throughout the house. "Cheryl honey i'm home!" Gasping, I bounce towards the head of the bed, opening Daddy's drawer and dropping the book in hastily, closing it with care. I look at the old faded title, it is a piece of paper torn from a book and sellotaped to the cover. As the drawer slowly slides to a close, my eyes follow the bold writing printed onto the paper. It reads "SILENT HILL"._

The sound of that drawer closing resounded through my head with startling finality as I once again tried to comprehend my situation. I turned back to the brick wall, and to the message, the chute was indeed gone. Wherever Silent Hill was, I was stuck there. The way I came into this place had vanished into thin air. My eyes slowly drifted across the bare brick wall of the building before me. Something caught my eye. In one of the first floor windows, I saw a small, pink, rabbit toy grinning down at me from the sill inside. That was _my toy!_ My very old, but very treasured, toy given to me by my father lay grinning on the sill inside the house. Harry had said it was from my mother, both husband and wife were now dead. Both times I had been completely helpless to prevent it happening. I choked back tears and shook my head furiously, I was past crying. I examined the building before me closer, paying attention to finer details. The same crack in the upstairs window, the same window which had been jammed open ever since we moved into that appartment. If I was standing outside of my house, wasn't I still in danger from whoever was hunting me? Maybe they had left. Either way I was standing outside my home. My home was my only lifeline in the strange position I found myself. My life had taken a surreal turn and I was sure that turn wasn't for the better.

My footsteps broke the heavy silence, seemingly muffled and buffeted by the fog which lay so heavily in the air and coated the ground in its infectious pallor. As I walked, my mind occupied itself wondering at the dense fog that surrounded me. It had been raining just minutes ago, and now what appeared to be snow was falling from the sky. My feet hit the pavement one after the other. As I rounded the corner with my mind set on comprehending the obscure weather patterns, I barely noticed that the road had somehow fallen away yards before me. Stopping dead in my tracks, my hand flew out and latched onto the wall at my side as I peered over the fringe. Staring downwards at the abyss that had presented itself before me, I saw only thick fog, and darkness. The road had stopped, fallen away, a great gaping chasm taking its place and leaving colossal, jagged cracks in what was left of the road. I shook my head and blinked, was this a dream? Being careful not to fall to my certain demise, I forced my feet to take a small step forwards, placing my other hand next to the first on the wall and leaning out into nothingness. The wall of my house was crumbling, had fallen away. It had left the rooms of my home gaping wide open and exposed to the elements. I looked past my house into the distance as far as I could see and saw nothing. The entire road, all of the roads along that strip, all of the buildings, had fallen away. Looking below the surface and revealed a sheer cliff face spread out beyond my limited vision. I pushed myself carefully back to safety and looked briefly in the opposite direction, it was exactly the same. The normal course of the road fell across the chasm, I could see nothing but more grey fog punctuated by lighter spots of snow. Looking sidelong at my house, it was clear that it too had suffered the same damage as the road. It was on a slant, tilting precariously towards the abyss that threatened to devour it whole. Possessed by curiosity, and an overwhelming desire to go home, I stood solemnly for a short time planning my route to the crooked wooden door to my floor of the apartment.

As I pulled myself to my feet, the rusty landing beneath me trembled. I gripped the railing tightly in my hand, reaching out my other to push open the door uncertainly. To my surprise, the door slowly fell open, revealing a dark and slanted hallway in the murky building beyond. As I leant forwards to peer into the gloom beyond the door, the floor beneath me buckled. The door fell beyond my reach. The landing fell for a sickening moment, and caught on something out of sight. I cried out, pulling myself upright as I recovered from the shock and staggered to the railing, climbing hurriedly onto it and reaching up for the base of the doorframe. My hands scraped along rough wood, sharp flakes of chipped paint digging into my fingers as they hooked around the base. I pulled with all of my remaining strength, lifting my weight from the railing below me as it jolted violently and slid sluggishly down into the mist of the abyss. Deafening metallic crashes resonated from the chasm before fading to silence. Momentarily relieved, I pressed my feet firmly against the wall, breathing heavily as a low crack sounded from the doorway above me. I suddenly jolted downwards as the rotting wood of the doorway began to crack. I dug in my legs and pulled against the doorframe, my arms screaming in resistance. The wood finally gave way with a loud creak and a snap as I found myself pushed off balance and toppling dangerously out into the air. Clawing wildly, I found a hold on the remaining doorframe still clinging to the wall and caught myself as my feet left the wall. Arms shaking in submission, I threw myself at the doorway and allowed my weakened legs to give way as I fell limply into the hallway.

I fell painfully onto my front, jarring my chin on the rough wood floor. As I fell I scraped my knees along the splintered doorframe and pulled the last of the doorway off with me. My heart slowly began to steady itself as I lay motionless on the floor. I rolled onto my back and stared wide-eyed at the roof, both shocked and relieved that I had somehow survived such a dangerous stunt. Every bone in my body ached, my head was both swimming and pounding and my hands and knees felt like they were scraped red raw. _But I was alive_. I shook my head in a vain attempt to clear my fuzzy vision. Dragging myself into a sitting position, my eyes slowly began to focus. A shaky step backwards found me carefully bracing myself against the slope of the building, glancing unwillingly out at the grey blanket that presented itself through the gaping hole to my side. I slowly turned myself around placed one foot in front of the other as I passed the front room. The floor had entirely fallen away in the lounge, and only a few pieces of plaster were still vainly clinging to the doorframe. I passed the ruined room and eventually reached the other end of the hall. There was no bathroom, not even a door but simply a vacant space and a cracked floor set out before me. Looking to my right, I saw the crumbling ruins of my kitchen, it had a floor and walls that were relatively intact, the only room which owned either. I curled my hands securely around the doorframe into the kitchen, and pulled myself up against the slant of the building, stumbling as my feet appeared to fall through the cracked floor, and onto an entirely solid and flat floor in its place. I pulled my other foot to fall next to the other, staring in bewilderment at the pristine kitchen of my home that I so thoroughly remembered that now lay in place of the ruined and deteriorated room that stood here seconds ago.

I looked around the room, taking in the shining cooking utensils and spotless counters. This wasn't my kitchen, my kitchen was never so orderly. I saw something move in the corner of my eye and jumped as the curtains moved. A strong breeze drifted across me and sent shivers along my spine. I sighed and moved to close the window, forgetting the room's condition and pulling away the curtains. I stopped as I reached out for the window, my hand frozen mid-movement as I saw that the window was closed. In fact it was fastened by the latches at either side, it was entirely sealed. Yet the curtains had still moved. I studied the clouded glass warily, looking down at the latches and glancing along the sides of the frame for any sight of a crack. My search revealed nothing but a thoroughly closed window, there was no way such force would reach the curtains through this window. I shook my head, rubbing my eyes wearily before opening them. As the world slowly reappeared before my eyes, I saw something in the road below me that turned my blood to ice. It was my hunter, the man with the pyramid helmet, watching the house from the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. He stood silently, unmoving, simply staring at the wall with a handle to something clutched in one hand. It was a huge sword. His other hand was balled into a fist by his side. He was wearing only an apron, his chest left bare. Strong muscles held the great knife firmly in place. As I occupied myself with the distant inspection, his head snapped up to the window I stood behind, his body slowly jerking into motion as if he were a statue coming to life. I cried out and jumped backwards from his sight, he had seen me! I cast about wildly, looking for a safe place to hide, my eyes flying across the furniture before finally resting on the hunter, my hunter, standing motionless in the corner of the room. I screamed, now casting about for an exit as he calmly stalked towards me. His body lurched violently forwards as he brought the arm holding his great knife around to his front, the last of my scream dying out as the knife sliced through the soft skin of my neck, tearing it apart and snatching the world away from before my eyes.

The remnants of a scream and the smell of rotting flesh floated in black space before me as I fell.

Fell into the black.

Fell into nothingness.

Fell into...


	6. Forewarned

Note: This is not the writer posting this, she is in hospital (with a notepad :D).

Odottaa te iloita nyt kuluva luku Tuomas! ^-^

A/N: Consider your heart warmed.

A/N.. (number two? *Erk*): Someone asked me via e-mail what my inspiration is. Honestly, all it is is the Silent Hill 2 original soundtrack and a weird imagination. I guarantee if you listen to the SH2 OST as you read this it will feel spookier (save angel's thanatos for PH =D)!

A/N 3 (Jeez): I know this one is shorter than the others, it's simply filler until I get out of this hospital (tomorrow), I never did like nightmare nurses.

Note:

Konami® is a registered trademark of Konami Corporation Silent Hill™, characters, settings and Silent Hill are © Konami Corporation or their respective owners, I own none of the features of this story that are featured in any of the games featured in the Silent Hill series, I make no money from this fan fiction and simply wrote this for the fun and sake of writing a fan fiction after taking a long break, don't sue me bro!

*Hates disclaimers*

Enjoy,

Anna-Marie! ^-^

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**Forewarned**

**Like i've been run over by a truck, but i'm alright I guess.**

...consciousness?

Pallid sunlight flooding through the window dragged me kicking and screaming into waking. I wearily rubbed my eyes and lay staring at a crumbling roof. Was it a dream? The window above me was open, the curtains rippling in a light breeze. A thick mist drifted in through the window, coating the room in that haze which I so vividly remembered. Groaning, I quickly looked about me, where was I? I was lying on a couch, on my right was a table, I could see below the table to a bar, various drinks lined up on shelves behind it. A diner? I hadn't fallen asleep here last night. In fact, the night before I was in.. I was in my home. And now I was in a diner. I sighed, my eyes coming to a natural close as I yawned extensively. As I opened my eyes, I gasped. A pair of legs now stood in my view below the table, dressed in faded blue jeans. The table prevented me from seeing past the waistline, only the bottom of a dark brown top could be seen. A steady breathing floated through the still air as I heard a thud sound out against the table surface followed light static. It was the same sound from my earphones that night! What did that sound mean? I warily placed my hands on the table's surface, pulling myself up to peer over the it. As I did so, the room was plunged into silence. Puzzled, I sat up and scanned the room for any sign of the person who had been stood opposite me moments ago. They had vanished, they could not have left so quickly. Ducking, I saw only the bar and the floor below the table, whoever it was had disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. As I sat back up, my eyes fell to the table on which lay an old red radio, a piece of paper trapped below it. On picking up the radio, a single look told me it was broken, almost every dial had fallen off and the aerial was bent. I placed the radio down on the table and examined the piece of paper. The paper itself was stained yellow, clearly old, written across it in red were the letters "O CUH." I frowned in confusion. The letters themselves appeared bolder in parts, a slight red tinge appearing in places where the paper was blank. The spaces between the letters? Flipping over the note revealed only a blank note, the edge of which had curled in on itself. Above that curl was the other side of the note, its corner intact. It was two pieces of paper stuck together! I stood hurriedly and shuffled around the table. Standing opposite to the window, I held up the paper. The dim light shone through it, revealing the words "TO CHURCH." I grinned, proud of my discovery.

Peering out of the window, I saw the faint outline of another building across the road through the fog. A faint green light was flickering on and off through the fog, a neon sign reading "Nathan's Drugs". I stared for a moment, distracted, before I saw a silhouette lumbering slowly along the sidewalk below the sign. Accompanied by each of the figure's labored steps came a loud, metallic screech. I heard the radio spark into life, the same static blaring out from the table and into the fog. The figure stopped, hauling itself around to face me. I took in the shape of the silhouette, its triangular head. Hands gripped the handle of what I knew to be a huge broadsword, a great knife. I gasped and impulsively took a step backwards as the static grew in volume. Above the head of the hunter, the sign flickered back into life, only three letters now shone through the mist: "RUN." Eyes wide in fear, I cast about for a way out. A door stood alone behind the bar. I turned back to the table and grabbed the radio, jamming it into my pocket and running towards the bar. The room whirled as the door burst open, splinters flying through the air. Crying out, I threw open the bar hatch and pulled on the back door's handle. A brief sigh of relief as the door opened and I was through, I slammed it firmly behind me. I ran past shelves filled with cardboard boxes, skidding to a halt against the opposite wall. The bar's door bent inwards on itself as it fell from its hinges, the hunter standing forebodingly in the doorway. A rusted door to my side appeared to be my only way out. I pushed roughly against the door, falling forwards as it reluctantly swung open. Railings caught me in my fall as I turned to push the door closed. The metallic screeching of the hunter's knife now accompanied that of the old fire escape door scraping along the rusted fire escape landing. The staircase jolted as I clambered hurriedly down to its base. I tightened my grip on the railing and stopped dead in my tracks on the final step, the entire road below me had fallen into the abyss. I saw nothing but fog below me, a deadly drop. The staircase groaned and creaked as the hunter stepped out onto the landing and lazily turned to face me. Was I simply postponing the inevitable? I turned to look back at the abyss and stopped as I saw a break in the monotonous brickwork of the building. Another tunnel? More writing above this hole read "There's another hole here, don't give up". Don't give up? Was someone looking out for me?

The hunter took a step down towards me, I didn't need any further encouragement. I reached up to the hole, gripping the edge as I pulled myself up into it, hastily pulling in my legs as the hunter's footsteps sped up. Clambering along on all fours, I heard rasping breaths coming from the tunnel's mouth, he hadn't even tried to reach inside to grab me. After a moment's pause to regain my breath, I began to steadily crawl through the tunnel.

What felt like an eternity later, I came to a ladder, its rusty rungs reaching further and further up into the gloom. The ladder climb was frighteningly high, slipping from the top would have undoubtedly been the end of me. Close to the top of my climb, the walls turned to a smooth metal, allowing me to rest my aching back as I climbed. Eventually I reached the top of the tunnel.

I stumbled out into dim sunlight, the dense fog eagerly closing its insubstantial fingers around me. Loose rocks crunched below me, accompanied by the distant toll of church bells drifting through the mist. I turned to face the tunnel I had just emerged from. It was a ventilation shaft, a metallic worm opening itself to the air before burying itself in the roof of the building. How high up was I? Treading carefully, I walked to the edge of the roof and peered over. I couldn't see the floor, even if there was one there, nor could I see the walls of any buildings around me. The building could have been floating in the air, there would have been no visible difference. I stepped back from the ledge and made my way to a fire door standing out from the roof. Warily pulling open the door, I peered inside. Stairs led down into gloom, the fog from outside slowly seeping in through the open doorway. I needed to get down to the ground floor, then I could find the church from where the bells were sounding. Reaching the bottom of the staircase and opening the door, I stepped into the hallway. The hall was devoid of light except for a burst of light far away down the corridor. Squinting, I hastily made my way towards the light. As I grew near, I heard voices. "Ha-ha!"

"Hey wait!"

I gasped and stepped back into the shadows of another corridor as a little girl ran by me, disappearing into the gloom.

"Dammit!"

That voice belonged to a man, apparently human. On an impulse, I whirled around the corner and ran towards the light. "Hello? Wait, stay there!"

"Huh?"

I reached the light, hurtling into a row of bars jutting out from the floor to the roof. My breath escaped in fast pants as I leant against the bars for support. "Hey, are you okay?" From his voice he sounded older than me.

My heart slowly thudded back to a steadier rate, allowing me to lift my head and squint warily through the blinding light. My guess was right, he was far older than me. Blonde hair was parted widely across his forehead, dressed in a dull green jacket and casual jeans. "Are you okay?" He asked again. "My name's James, James Sunderland."


End file.
